Bound for Keeps (Men of Honor) Read Free Page A

Marine, but Reed also held the quiet edge to him.
    Special forces, he thought to himself. And you won’t be here long enough to find out if you’re right.
    “Shane, can you tell us a little more about…anything?” Reed asked.
    What did they want to know about him? Much more than he was able to tell—and he knew the amnesia routine would wear thin quickly. To an extent, it already had in that Keith didn’t seem to believe him and Reed was also somewhat skeptical.
    Maybe telling total strangers would be easier. Maybe he could truly disappear from his old life and start over.
    But every time he’d tried that, he was found. Followed. Tracked, like prey. Which was why staying in one place too long was never a good idea. “I already told you I don’t remember anything else.”
    He closed his eyes again before they could say anything else to him. He heard them rustling around and then two sets of footsteps getting softer as the men left him alone. The door creaked a little, and when he looked from a slitted eye, he saw it was half shut.
    Sleep, he told himself. Sleep. Get stronger. And then get the hell out of here.
    But that old fight-or-flight feeling jangled through him like a drug, and he knew it was now or never. Silently, he shifted out of the bed and pulled the IV out. Wrapped a piece of gauze to staunch the blood as he spotted his clothes by the chair. They were still damp, but they were better than nothing.
    His training had kicked in—he could do things fast when necessary—it had been pounded into him to keep moving, whether or not he was half dead. Shane began to suspect the instructors liked the new recruits that way.
    “Your comfort has never been, nor ever will be my concern” had been his drill sergeant’s favorite line during Ranger school.
    Silently, he moved out to the snow-covered deck and jumped into the soft, freezing snow. The hail hammered his face and he looked down before he continued.
    He thought about how kind Reed had been and wavered for a second. Then he pictured Keith’s scowl and continued along through the hip-deep snow and waded through to the trees he’d followed on the way up the driveway—it would lead him to the road about a mile down.
    Better not to involve anyone else in his troubles. Kyle had already paid that price, and Shane didn’t want any more blood on his hands.
    He hadn’t even realized the date until he’d heard Reed mention it. He shivered by the end of the first mile, hoped to hell a truck or a car was passing through with a Good Samaritan willing to pick up a total stranger on Christmas Eve.
     
     
    Reed checked on the food while Keith snagged some cold appetizers from the fridge.
    “I’m starving,” Keith told him.
    “We’ll eat soon—it’s almost ready.” Reed had lowered the stove and oven so nothing would burn. He took the ham out and left it covered while he popped in some other dishes and set the timer.
    He glanced toward the half-closed door as the wind rattled the windows. “You think he’s faking it?”
    “You’re the doctor. You and I both know that amnesia is really rare and usually has a medical explanation—like head injury or tumor.”
    Reed shook his head. “Could be emotional trauma.”
    “You’re not buying it either. There’s just something about this kid that makes you soft.”
    “Fuck you.”
    Keith laughed, because Reed couldn’t tell him he was wrong. Instead, the big man moved to pull Reed closer. “He’s not you.”
    “Could be,” Reed mumbled, his face pressed against Keith’s neck, liking the feeling of the solid body against his.
    “Ah, Reed, come on.”
    But he knew he was breaking his lover down, the way Keith told him Reed always could. From the second he’d come into the man’s life, Keith told him he couldn’t resist him when he set his mind to something.
    “Fine,” Keith said. “We’ll keep trying to help him. If he wants it.”
    The wind howled again and Keith’s head jerked to the side as if